Combined shank and arch support for footwear



J. STEINBRECHER.

COMBINED SHANK AND ARCH SUPPORT FOR FO0TWEAR APPLICATIN FILED AUG. 12, 1918.

Patented July 20, 192D.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

J. STEINBRECHER.

COMBINED SHANK AND ARCH SUPPORT FOR FOOTWEAR.

APPLxcATloN HLED AUG.12, 191s.

1,347,061. n r Patented July 20,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

i JOI-IN STEINBRECHER, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' Application filed August 12, 1918.

T0 all whom tmay concern:

e it known that I, JOHN STEINBRECIIER, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, (having declared my intention to become a citizen of the United States), and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Shank and Arch Supports for Footwear, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to the provision of a combined shank and arch support for footwear. Heretofore shanks, consisting of comparatively heavy gage strips of metal, have been inserted in shoes and other forms of footwear so -as to extend from about the middle of the heel forwardly through the arch portion of the shoe to about the portion of the sole which is intended to contact with the ground. rIhese shanks are uniformly embedded in the filler material between the insole and the sole proper intermediate the ridges formed by the stitching of the welt and vamp to the bottom of the insole. I am also aware that arch supporting metal plates of suitable shape and size to conform to the arch of the foot, have been employed in shoes by positioning them inside the shoe and above the "insole. As these arch supporting plates have to support the weight of the individual who uses them, they have hitherto been made of comparatively heavy gage material.

The object of my present invention is to provide a structurey which may be formed of very light gage or thin material and which will, nevertheless, have suliicient strength'both to perform the functions of a shank and an arch support and which may 40 be installed as the shanks are now installed,

between the insole and the outsole and within the filler material commonly used in that position. As will hereafter be seen, my improved shank and arch support may be formed of a much thinner gage material than is at present employed in making the arch support plates and is also capable of being shaped to conform to the foot with- 'out the necessity of transversely scoring or cutting the plate, as is now done with arch support plates.

I secure the above objects by means of the structures illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,-

Figure l is a fragmental side elevation of a shoe, a portion thereof being broken Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 20, 1920. serial No. 249,531.

away to show the installation of my combined shank and arch support.

Fig. is a bottom plan of the structure shown 1n Fig. l, my combined shank and arch support being shown in dotted lines.

tig. 3 is a transverse section on line 2%*3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a perspective of a somewhat elaborated form of combined shank and arch support.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan of a simple form of shank and arch support in which the longitudinal corrugations are covered with a thin piece of leather. v

Fig. 6 is a transverse section on line 5*6, Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, with the leather covering omitted; and FFig?. 8 is a transverse section on line 8 8,

My combined shank and arch support is preferably made of a blank of comparatively thin gage metal, l0, such as a suitable variety of tin plate, and to give to this comparatively light metal the necessary rigidity, I provide it with one or more longitudinal corrugations, 11, the ends whereof are preferably iattened down at an angle, as at l2, upon the body of the strip. The walls of the corrugations, which extend from the body of the plate, are generally brought very closely adjacent each other, but by bringing them more closely together at certain places than in others, as shown at X in Fig. l', it is possible for me to secure the proper shaping of the shank and arch support without the distortion or cutting` of the main portion of the blank, as is now arch support plates. These combined shanks and arch supports may be covered before their installation in the structure of the shoe by a thin coating of leather, as shown at /U in Fig. 5. They also may be provided with any desired number of longitudinal corrugations, as with two corrugations, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7 or with three such corrugations to form a comparatively elaborate shank and arch support plate, as shown in Fig. 4l. When installed between the insole and the outsole, they are not only lighter than the present shanks so installed, but they are more rigid and dispense with the use of more filler material 15, hitherto employed, which serves no useful purpose except that of filling the space in which it is used. Vhereas, by the employment of my comthe practice in making bined shank and arch support, the structure of the shoe is very materially strengthened. As will be seen by reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, my improved shank and arch support is adapted to be installed as the Shanks are now installed, between the insole, 13, and the outsole, 14, intermediate the lines of stitching, 16, and 17, which now serve to holdthe vamp, welt and soles together.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:- j

1. A shoe comprising inner and outer soles, an upper,'and. a heel and having a rigid supporting element interposed between the inner and outer soles in the shank portion of the shoe; said element comprising a metal plate arched between the heel and the ball of the shoe and having aseries of corrugations extending longitudinally of the plate and terminating within the end marginal portions, the walls ofthe corrugations being in close juxtaposition whereby a iat supporting surface for the insole is provided, said end marginal portions being flat, and the bottom edge of the corrugations resting upon the inner face of the outer sole.

2. The process of making. and adjusting to the shape of different feet a shank support which comprises forming a metal plate into the shape of a shanksupport provided with longitudinal corrugations havingclosely adjacent walls, and shaping the plate to the form desired by widening or narrowing the corrugations at the desired points.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 2d day of August, 1918.

JOHN STEINBRECHER.

Witnesses:

` BENJ. RooDHoUsE,

H\`SLACK. 

